Supper Time with Da Vinci
Content Editor: Alice On
The Last Supper
【Chapter 6】Out
A feast for the imagination, Leonardo’s masterpiece faithfully awaits visitors on the walls of the dining room of the former Dominican convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, its original home since 1498.
To see this speaking painting is a transformative experience I think everyone should have at least once in their lifetime.
I recommend checking their availability and the tour listings.
Spanning approximately 4 x 8.8 meters, the original technique was completed with tempra and oil on a gypsum preparation, unconventional for the period - and likely starting flaked the moment Da Vinci finished over 500 years ago. Without filter, this is the Last Supper as it stands today. Traces of gold and silver foil in the work indicate the figures were once depicted in a much more realistic manner; rich with precious details. Worn by time, we are left to ponder the secrets of it’s details and colours.
To preserve the precious remains of the work The Last Supper has undergone numerous restoration and measures, such as temperature control and limiting visitors to 25 per every 15 minutes, have been implemented.
In a piece published in 2016, BBC Witness speaks with renowned Italian art restorer Pinin Brambilla about the restoration of The Last Supper she, with a small team of experts she lead, completed in 1999.
Brambilla's restoration involved removing five layers of paint from previous botched restorations and restoring key features and objects. The painstaking job of cleaning, dabbing and repainting fresco took Pinin and her colleagues over 20 years and cost millions of dollars.
At the time of the interview, Pinin Brambilla was in her 90’s and still worked in her Milan studio at the time. She told Witness this restoration was a “labour of love that consumed half of her professional life.”
In 1999 a team led by renowned Italian art restorer Pinin Brambilla, concluded the mammoth task of restoring Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece, The Last Supper.
Hours
From Tuesday to Sunday 08.15 am - 07.00 pm.
Last admission 6.30 p.m.
Max. 25 admitted every 15 minutes.
Closed Monday, New Year’s Day, May 1st and Christmas Day.
Address
Piazza Santa Maria delle Grazie, 2 - Milan.
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